Notes with a human touch

Music connects one’s soul to the surroundings and humanity on the whole. And that’s exactly what happened at ‘A Piano Recital By Kimball Gallagher’, held at The Bangalore School of Music recently.

Kimball Gallaghar’s experimentation with music and the concept behind the concert tour, in itself, had a humanitarian context.

There were many compositions and each piece stood apart with its eloquent style. Kimball’s performance consisted of pieces that demonstrated classical music’s ‘economy of means’ in India, as the artiste himself put it.

Beethoven’s ‘Sonata in C-sharp Minor’, the first piece of the evening displayed Kimball’s smooth style, with soft soul-searching notes mixed with joyous vibrant ones that highly impressed the audience.

Rang da Basant by Reena Esmail, a piece influenced by Hindustani (North Indian) classical and western music, was a lively piece with richly melodious notes. Michael Harrison’s Jaunpuri was a mix of Indian ragas with other vibrant sounds that enthralled the audience.   

 ‘Selection from Etudes’ and ‘Selections from 88 Preludes’, were the other pieces that followed. Honouring waste-pickers and the work they do — sorting and collecting garbage — was the concept behind the piece ‘Prelude for Lakshmi’.

Kimball dedicated this piece to waste-pickers like Lakshmi, who hails from Bangalore and ‘the dedication they have towards their work, to protect the environment.’

When asked about how he felt performing in the City, Kimball smiled and said, “I was very pleased with the audience and how receptive they were. It’s hard to get an attentive audience, who are appreciative too.”

He added, “I’m excited about this whole tour. All the pieces that are a part of the concert were specifically picked to communicate the importance of ‘environment issues’.”
Naomi d’Gama Rose, a music connoisseur, excitedly commented about the concert, “Only a pure heart could play so beautifully, with such mysticism. I have never heard anyone play like that and with such concern for humanity.”

Aruna Sunderlal, founder of The Bangalore School of Music, said, “This concert was unusual, since it had a human aspect to it. The performance was really touching, and it’s really impressive to see how Kimball has worshipped the waste-pickers, and given them the respect they deserve.”